What, according to Jonah, blocks the coming of grace into one’s life? It is clinging to idols. Why, then, had Jonah himself so badly missed in his understanding of God’s will and heart? The answer is—his idolatry. His fear of personal failure, his pride in his religion, and his fierce love of his country had coalesced into a deadly idolatrous compound that spiritually blinded him to the grace of God. As a result he did not want to extend that grace to an entire city that needed it. He wanted to see them all dead.
